How the Surf Anthem ‘Red Bellied Black Snake’ Became a TikTok Phenomenon

From John John Florence's Maps of Home to global domination!

Five years back Port Lincoln-born chef Sammy Smith was living in Bondi Beach slinging coffees and in-vogue plats du jour from his and his gal’s cafe Porch and Parlour.

Sammy always had his acoustic guitar around, played covers at a few joints, interesting voice, nothing real fancy on the axe but good enough to have patrons swaying on their stools.

Nothing to suggest that, in what seemed like overnight, he’d deliver half-a-dozen surf anthems with one, Red Bellied Black Snake, getting used 250 million times on TikTok, 629k on Instagram, the sort of metrics that gets a man paid a decent sorta sum even in these reductive times.

Sammy wrote Red Bellied Black Snake about having to be the face of customer service at his cafe “but in my mind I’m this venomous Red Bellied Black snake about to hiss,” he tells me from his joint in Fremantle in West Oz.

A couple of Bondi’s super hero musicians, Kirin J Callinan, famous for his cover of the 1998 underground hit The Homosexual, and Julian Sudek, producer of Australian duo Royel Otis, performing under the handle The Beefs, added a little extra flavour, the trio working out of a garage overlooking a grinding lefthander over the hill from Bondi.

“They added something to that demo that it didn’t have. It became fast and intense, almost like dance music. Whatever they did with it, it worked. I understand why it’s popular on TikTok. There’s a count-in for chicks to get their gear on in fashion videos, it’s snappy and upbeat.”

Best of all, “It’s paying really fucking well, which happens when you’re not signed to a record label and some fat greasy cunt smoking cigars is taking your money.”

Red Bellied Black Snake by The Beefs took off when John John’s filmer Erik Knutson used it in Maps of Home.

“That was it, Maps of Home is a crazy film. To me, if there was a story on the best surf movie part in history, that would definitely be in the top ten. So lucky. It was a real kickstart. Kelly Slater used it on a clip on Instagram the other day.”

The idea of the Beefs started off a bit of a joke, Sammy wanting his humour to come out in his music, the result being an eighties pastiche, homage, whatever you want to call it to Australia’s belle epoch. The Beefs do for eighties Australian pub pop what Orville Peck did for country music.

Sammy’s humour is evident in the song Rubber Arm. A man goes to get his car from the pub and slips in for a beer. Gets too drunk to derive. The car lives at the pub for ten years.

Recently, Sammy has spent the last month commuting from Perth to the east coast to play a series of support gigs for the singer Ruby Fields. Tough work for a man with two lil kids at a pottery biz called Porch Ceramics eating up his time.

Still he ain’t complaining.

“It would’ve been nice for it to hit a little earlier but, who fucking knows, now’s the time to start living.”

A fav of mine is Country Member with its classic refrain, “I’m a Cunt! I’m a Cunt!”

Have a lil sing along here to Red Bellied Black Snake here.

One, two
One, two, three, what!

Dreamin’ on a Sunday afternoon, I’ve got the
Best part of the day up my sleeve
Sadly, it will all be over soon, I’ve gotta
Get back to the place and keep
Keep up appearances

Red-bellied
Red-bellied

Dodgin’
Dodgin’ out of view, I feel like
Ducking for cover in my sleep
Handball
I handball it to you, I’ve had
Enough of experience
Can’t work with these ingredients

Red-bellied
I’ve got a red-bellied black snakе
In my mind
And I’d like to invite you
But I think it might bite you
I’vе got a red-bellied black snake
In my mind

Dreamin’ on a Sunday afternoon, I’ve got the
Best part of the day up my sleeve

I’ve got a red-bellied black snake
In my mind
I’ve got a red-bellied black snake
In my mind
And I’d like to invite you
But I think it might bite you
I’ve got a red-bellied black snake
In my mind

I’ve got a red-bellied black snake
In my mind

I’ve got a red-bellied black snake
In my mind